Miner Infatuation
by Delition
Summary: Blue, a Decepticon Miner dislikes Vehicons (namely Steve), or any four wheeler for that matter, is constantly in the medbay. What happens when his continuous trips to the medbay leads him to become closer to Knockout? Neither are looking for an actual relationship, having feelings for another just isn't in the agenda...for now.


**A/N:** This story is based off the events from the Transformers Prime episodes "Stronger, Faster" and "Inside Job" so to understand this fic a bit better, it would be best if you have seen those episodes

**Chapter: 1**

_He…was gone. He was really gone…Megatron had thrown him off the Nemesis in an attempt to catch that damn Autobot with the relic inside of him. He was just here. Moments ago he was right fragging here, talking to him. He said he'd be right back. He said he'd be gone for only a little while when Megatron commed him of the bot's escape. He actually promised he'd be back, and how he was just gone._

* * *

The Autobots had recently forced a retreat on the Decepticons, as per usual, making today another day to witness Megatron release his anger by spitting curses, shouting, and denting his second in command. It was hard to choose whether or not being smacked around by Megatron or watching someone else get smacked by him was worse. For Steve, however, it was probably easy to say that he'd rather be the one being hit instead of watching Starscream take all the blows. Sometimes that Vehicon was so sickening to look at…

Drone 7334, also known as Steve-the not so secretly rumored Vehicon to be head-over-heels for the egotistical higher-up that everyone loathed-talking about how the Air commander wasn't such a bad person, and how no one understood him the way he himself did. What a load of slag. That kind of romantic attitude would piss anyone off, especially one Decepticon Miner in particular.

Miner 18324, or as he was so irritatingly nickdesignated, "Blue" because of his dampening personality, couldn't stand Steve probably as much as others hated being around he himself. Just being around Blue seemed to be a downer for others these days. He wasn't what you'd call the most "friendly", but Steve never seemed to get the hin,t no matter how up front it was, that he didn't want to be "friends". To Blue, that Vehicon was the most idiotic mech that was ever sparked, he even made bets with himself when his spark would be extinguished by his stupidity in the battle field.

Blue had never actually seen Steve in action, but he could only imagine how that blundering idiot handled himself. If he was as bad as he was off the field, the way he tripped over his own peds, seemed extremely timid at times, and who's common sense wasn't so…common, then that lug would be gone very soon. He was just an annoyance, and if he happened to fall off the face of the Earth, it would only change Blue's life for the better.

Eradicons had a tendency to show off their warrior status around the _Nemesis_when there was a gathering in the main lodge rest area for the Drones and Miners. There were very distinct differences when it came to the Soldiers and Miners, though it was hard to tell at first glance, and the Soldiers definitely thought they sported the best frames with their mono visor, dark plating, wheels, and flight sensors. The more scratches, paint chips, and scarred weld marks they had, the higher they felt their status grew. Their injuries were their trophies, their strength, as long as they were still able to function.

Blue thought that was the most ignorant way to think. Who the slag would want to get so fragged up on the battlefield like that? What's to show off? Wouldn't it be better to come out of a battle unscathed and show off instead? Getting an arm ripped off or wing dented didn't make anyone a hero, just more of an aft than anything when they were proud to show it off, hoping their battle wounds will get other drones aroused enough to get spiked. Really...Vehicons pissed him off.

"Hey Blue."

Speak of the Devil.

Blue didn't even bother to lift his scarred dual optical banded faceplate for acknowledgement, that voice was very distinctive.

"You thinking again?" Steve took a seat at the small table, across from Blue, that was conveniently placed in the cornermost part of the lodging area. A place that was so painfully obvious that if anyone sat there, they'd want to be left alone. Blue was hunched over, elbows on the table, apparently a very inviting pose.

Blue looked off to the side, optics focusing on nothing in particular, the scar that was inflicted by the Autobot's medic not so long ago by some sort of welding weapon was facing Steve, who always seemed to stare. It was annoying. Plenty of Vehicons had scars on them for Steve to stare at.

"Stop."

Steve stiffed and straightened up, "Excuse me?" his voice wavered a bit.

"What do you want?" Blue's voice was deep and had an obvious 'I don't want you here' tone to his voice, but of course Steve didn't seem to notice it. He didn't like small talk, especially not with _this_ Vehicon. He really had no idea why he even bothered to talk to him. Blue never made any hints that he wanted to socialize or made any effort to. He did often talk to his fellow Miners now and again, especially his roommates, at least they could relate to him in many ways.

The light purple Miner felt a small nudge on his arm, a low-grade Energon cube pushed toward him, and his dual banded optics finally made contact with something in particular. The dull blue-gray liquid sloshed in its transparent cube as Blue looked at it questioningly, then he felt slight irritation rise in his system. He, Steve, always did this.

"You didn't refuel today did you?" The wheeled Drone nudged the cube closer to the gloomy looking Miner, "Take it. Sometimes I think you're actually trying to wither away."

Blue let out a grunt, still not giving any leeway to optic contact with the dark violet Vehicon, "Well if you think that way then leave me to it."

Steve couldn't help but x-vent, but his voice sounded amused, "No wonder they call you Blue." He tore off the corner of his own fresh low-grade cube, tilting the corner into his oral intake as the cool liquid made its way through his fuel pipes.

"Do you have anything better to do? Like, I dunno, wither away on the battlefield instead of buying me drinks?" He grunted, "If you weren't so head over fragging peds for the Air Commander I would think that you were making a real bad attempt at hitting on me. Cause honestly, you're not my type. I like the intellectual ones." Blue pushed himself out of his seat and Steve was quick to copy.

"Hey—Where are you going? I didn't mean—Wait, Blue!"

* * *

The air was thick in the large cave, making ventilating more of a chore than anything. It was damp and muggy, the heat from all of the Miners radiating off of each other as each one worked under the judging eye of their Lord, Megatron. This kind of atmosphere would drive any bot except a Miner crazy, making it feel more like home, at least to Blue. The scarred Miner liked the uncomfortableness of the cave, he liked working his body to excess until he would almost collapse into recharge, and he liked having hard work to preoccupy him, getting rid of all his energy. It just felt _good_. It felt _good_ to work hard and sleep without and thoughts interfering throughout the cycle.

They had just hit a great stash of crystallized Energon under the earth's surface earlier that morning and decided to move out during the night cycle where it would be cooler and a less chance that the Autobots would notice their escapades. It was hard for the Air Commander to agree to those terms and he still argued with Megatron that if they excavated when they first learned of the location they'd be close to finishing right now. Blue liked distractions, but Starscream was just too much, his screech when Megatron ignored his statements rang in his audials. What Steve saw in that mech, he couldn't understand.

As Miners drilled a hole through a cracked cave wall, Blue stood his distance with two of his roommates, Dent and Grind, steady with tools at the ready.

"You know," Grind started, not really talking to one mech in particular, "Commander Starscream is kinda right. We should have started this earlier; we've barely scratched the surface."

"What?" The mech next to him, Dent, asked incredulously, gripping at the bar of the cart used for loading Energon. "Dude, that's just stupid. The Autobots are always looking out for our signal, and it's more likely that they are in deep recharge at this time of the night cycle."

"True, but still, there's no way the Autobots would be able to find us all the way down here—"

"Waaaait wait wait. Do you not remember that time the Autobot's crazy medic found us? He broke down Breakdown! Even though he was hopped up on some crazy Synthetic Energon stuff, it doesn't change that he still found us!"

The thought of the Autobot medic sent a shiver through Blue's system, and he had to stop himself from reaching up to touch the scar on his faceplate.

"Dude." Grind shoved the other Miner before whispering in a harsh tone, "Shut up." He gestured a servo over to Blue, who had kept his optics forward on the driller ahead of their small group.

"..slag." The Miner took a step forward, pushing the cart with him, " Blue—"

"It's fine." Blue responded before the Miner could apologize. His optics dimmed slightly before brightening back up again as if pushing away a memory that clouded his vision. "Despite my lack of communication about the subject, it's really not that big a deal guys. Slag happens. I was lucky." He turned his helm to face the two Miners, "But no, I think that you have a point, Dent. As much as I wish we'd got this slag done sooner, this was the best choice. At least working night shifts lets us have more recharge than the day shifters. So I can't really complain."

Dent shoved Grind in the arm with his elbow, happy that he seemed to win the argument that had no point to it, and gave a snicker.

The loud sound of the nearest drill had ceased as it backed away from the hole it just created while the drilling Miner gave them the go-ahead to start excavating. The mining trio gave a nod and made their way into the dark makeshift entrance. There was only a small pinhole of blue light made by buried energon.

"This place is really packed!" Grind exclaimed, "Here." He handed Dent a mining tool, "Don't think that pushing the cart is actual work, or that it excuses you from helping."

Dent's shoulders sagged and he x-vented, "Yeah yeah, whatever." He roughly snatched the tool from Grind's servos and in return received a small punch to the arm.

"Okay sparklings, that's enough. Let's just do this. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get outta here." Blue shook his head holding his laser drill steady as he began to work.

"What are you, my carrier?" Dent mumbled as he too began to work on the opposite side of the cave.

"Someone has to be." Blue responded quickly and Grind let out a loud snort.

It was well into the night when the trio had packed up three carts of crystallized Energon from their single makeshift cave. It was impressive really, to find such a large chunk in one place. All of this Energon, yet the Eradicons were forced to drink only low-grade to save on materials.

There was no time for breaks as the night wore on, they had to get all of the Energon without leaving a trace behind for a second venture. They've always had such an advantage when it came to energon compared to the Autobots, but there were so many Eradicons to fuel-the ones gifted with flight that took more fuel than the others—so it was easy to see why their Lord was so hard on them, or it could just be his lust for getting more than what Optimus had, as always. It was kind of a running joke between some of the Minors.

::Yeah, sometimes I think that Lord Megatron needs to fight out his sexual frustrations out with Optimus. I guess Starscream just ain't doin' it for him.:: Dent joked over the trio's private comm. In case of being heard elsewhere. They weren't sure if Soundwave could somehow hear them with his hacking skills, but till this day he hasn't made any notion of his eavesdropping.

::Hahahaa, of course not.:: Grind replied, good humored, continuing to cut through the hard rock of the cave walls. ::Starscream is probably thinking of Steve while he's in the berth. Can't satisfy a mech when your mind is elsewhere.:: Both Miners laughed, knowing full well that there was nothing truly going on between the Air Commander and Vehicon, but he was just so easy to poke fun at. ::Hey Blue, you think Steve is a better frag than Megatron?::

::Saying either of their names in a sentence that has the word 'frag' in it doesn't sound good to me at all.:: Blue joked, voice over the comm. a bit soft as he x-vented. His optic bands dimmed a bit before brightening again, he felt a bit light headed. He was probably pushing himself to hard.

::You still got that unknown vendetta against Steve?:: Dent cracked a chunk of Energon from the wall and began to pile it in a new cart, ::Or maybe it's one of those things, you know, when you're mean to someone cause you got a mega huge crush on them?:: He teased. Even though Blue was initiating himself into their conversation, it was obvious that he wasn't in the best of moods, Dent just wanted to cheer him up a bit. Blue wasn't always like this, and he wondered how long it would take him to be his old self again if he could..

::Or maybe Steve is just an annoying aft of a soldier like the rest of them. So full of themselves.:: Grind never actually had a full on conversation with the mech, but he wasn't someone he could see as being part of their group. He was a soldier after all, he hated their elitist attitude toward Miners, as if what they did just wasn't good enough. Without them, they'd all be deactivated.

Steve, as Grind and Dent both noticed, was always hanging around Blue and they could tell that the Vehicon was never welcome. They once had to drag Blue from a conversation that Steve was obviously just having with himself and when they confronted Steve about leaving Blue alone, he just became a stuttering idiot. Really, someone like Steve really did make a perfect match for Starscream, they were both annoying.

"Hey Blue, you okay?" Dent piled another chunk of energon into the cart and walked over to the noticeably swaying mech. He put a servo on his shoulder to steady him, "Hey." He reached over to take Blue's mining tool that was, at the moment, just drilling air.

Just as Grind looked over his shoulder to see what was up, Blue's optics dimmed once more until they were completely unlit and his body collapsed onto the hard dirt below.

* * *

"_Hey there."_

_Blue looked up from the Energon vending machine to see a Vehicon casually resting his shoulder against the wall._

"_Blue, right?"_

_The Miner looked from side to side, then behind him. Was that Vehicon soldier talking to him? "What?" It was the only thing that could come out of his vocalizer from his sheer confusion."Uhh.." He didn't know what to say._

_The Vehicon laughed, making Blue quickly turn his helm and grabbed his vended Energon from the machine._

"_Do you actually want something from me Vehicon? Or am I just pretty to look at?" Blue turned his helm back to the Vehicon, showing more of the scarred right side of his faceplate purposefully._

_The Vehicon whistled, "Quite a battle wound. Looks good on you."_

"_Sarcasm suits you well, Vehicon." Blue began to stride away, his system feeling heated from the slight irritation growing inside of him. Fragging Vehicons. At least he could refuel alone in his shared quarters since Dent and Grind were still on duty._

_As Blue stepped down the halls he could hear heavy footsteps behind him. He x-vented roughly before turning around, " I know that you're specialty is fighting on the battlefield, but I have a feeling you're a better stalker."_

"_Woah, woah, hey now." The Vehicon raised his hands in defense as he came to a stop. " I'm just taking a walk, is that against the rules?"_

"_In the Miner's section of the ship?"_

"_What can I say, I like the atmosphere. It's so…gloomy." _

_The Vehicon's sarcasm wasn't amusing Blue, not that he didn't like sarcasm himself, but he just didn't like anything that spewed out of any Vehicon's vocalizer in general. "What the Pit do you want Vehicon?" There was venom in the last word._

"_Okay, you got me. I have an ultimatum." His hands fell to his sides, "I heard that there was a Miner that almost got wrecked today by the Autobot's medic and—"_

"_Yeah? And what's it to you? I don't even know you. Don't you have something better to do than stalk and harass me?"_

"_Harass? What—no. Look, I just saw you coming out of the medical bay and was just wondering if you were alright that's all."_

_Blue looked at the mech questioningly, letting his optics roll over his darker palleted form. "I'm still ventilating." What was with this Vehicon? Why was he socializing with a random Miner like him? Surely it wasn't just to see if he was alright. Blue looked behind himself for a moment in case this was some kind of distraction of some sort to get ganged up on or something. He felt himself tense up defensively. Obviously the Vehicon noticed._

"_What's a Vehicon like me talking to a Miner like you right?" _

_Blue whipped his helm back around, surprised that the mech was on point with his thoughts._

"_I know, I'm a catch right?" The Vehicon said proudly, obviously joking...or maybe not. "But no, really. I just wanted to see if you were alright. A lot of us heard the story and were wondering who the lucky son of a gun was, especially after seeing what that guy did to Breakdown. Musta been scary, especially since you're not a soldier class. Not used to that kind of stuff."_

_Blue wasn't sure what to say to that. Thank you? No, he didn't like this guy, he was definitely up to something, but what?_

"_Oh! The designation is Bit by the way." The taller Eradicon held out a servo. An awkward first meeting._

* * *

Warm pressure escaping his seams woke him up and his optic sensors blinked, taking in the bright white lights of the medic bay.

"Ah. So you've finally decided to wake."

Blue groaned, turning his head to see a blurry vision of the red doctor walk towards him. His optic sensors went black once more before turning on and focusing completely.

"What made you think that it would be a good idea to work on a nearly empty tank?" he scolded in a smooth tone, "You were so overheated I was surprised you didn't melt any wires. I managed to cool you down quickly with cool air pressure before any real damage happened and filled up your tank." Knockout tapped on a thin hose attached to the Miner's side port, blowing in cool air. "For a Miner you are in here a lot."

Knockout walked over to his computer, typing away as displays of Blue's vitals popped up. "Don't be too flattered, I can only tell you apart because of that hideous scar you refuse to let me fix." He tapped a few more buttons before strutting across the room, " I'll be right back after I check on a few soldiers. Priorities first and all that." With a wave of his hand, the medic left the room to go tend to others that were higher on his list of importance.

"Frag..." Blue groaned as he tried, and failed to sit up on the slap he was placed on. What happened? He remembered he was in the mines with Dent and Grind…they were talking, then...he must have blacked out. He was alone in the room, the two miners must have went back to finish up their work. There was no way they'd be able to stay.

There was a slight pain in his mid-section and he reached a servo to squeeze at it. His fuel tank felt wrecked. It was his own fault, he knew that. The doc was right, he'd been in here way too many times to count ever since…the incident with Bit. He looked off to the other side of the room, his vision a bit blurry. Frag. He had to go do something, he had to stop thinking. He needed a distraction.

Just then, Knockout came back into the room, raising a metallic eyebrow at the bot struggling to sit up on the medical slab. "You plan on going far?" He said with a small smirk then shook his head. "This is…what, your fifth or sixth time being in here? Primus, fixing you is becoming a bother." The short red mech took a seat beside the medical berth and gently rested a servo on Blue's light purple chassis, digits lightly caressing the Decepticon sigil.

Blue shuddered at the sudden contact, not expecting it.

"Well," Knockout started, "You seem to be remotely cool now." His servo then moved down to rest upon Blue's abdomen, feeling it contract slightly to the touch. "How's your tank?" He concentrated on the temperature of the bot's exo-armor, removing his servo when he deemed it to be well.

Blue didn't answer momentarily, the tingling sensation from the doctor's warm servo still lingering, "Fine." He almost stiffened when Knockout stood up, "Can I go now?"

"If you can manage." Knockout said as he turned off the air pump and unhooked it from the Miner's body. If you feel like you need to rest, you can stay here until your next shift, but I'd hate for you to collapse and be in here again," He looked at his screen for the mech's designation, "Miner 18324."

He walked over to a large cabinet on the opposite side of the room, hearing the Miner struggle to sit up straight. His processor hurt, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. "I'm fine." was his only reply.

"Good, because I'm running out of berths in here and there was a call earlier that wounded soldiers were on their way." Knockout made his way back to the Miner's berth and handed him a light pink energon cube. It was much brighter than the dull cubes that came from the vending machines. "Take this the next chance you get. It will help to keep your system cool while you are working for a long period of time. Make sure that your tank is at least halfway full before taking it. I don't want to see you in here again with the same problem, or I'll be pissed. I have better things to do than sparklingsit.

Blue took the cube with a small nod of thanks and got to his feet. He stared at the cube curiously, and then to Knockout, who was staring back at him. He stiffened.

"You...sure you don't want me to fix that up?" Knockout pointed to the side of his face, "I don't see the point of keeping it. Though I know how you mechs are, thinking that battle scars are cool and all. It's disgusting really." He waved a hand, "Battle scars are for gross brutes."

"I don't think that I asked your opinion doctor." Blue suddenly piped up, noticing the surprised look on the doctor's faceplate. He shut off his vocalizer. Even though Knockout was just the medic, he was still in a way higher position than Blue. His optics traveled to his peds, "…I just don't care to have it fixed…sir."

"Suit yourself." Knockout didn't seem to take offense to the Miner's tone. He turned with a shrug, filing the mech's vitals into a folder. " Oh, Miner 18..3..75 or whatever." He said, stopping Blue as he took a step towards the door, "I'm sure that cube will be enough, but just in case you feel the need to, come back and I'll give you another. But I'd appreciate if this was your last visit. I'm surprised you haven't broken down already." He put a hand on his hip with a serious tone, "Don't work your body harder than you need to, it won't get work done any faster. You are excused."

Blue nodded, turning to finally make his way out the door, as the medbay doors slid open he stopped momentarily, " If saying my designation is that difficult and hard to remember. Just call me Blue." Without skipping a beat, he walked out of the corridor and into the hall, listening to the _swoosh_ of the door closing behind him. He began to walk back to his quarters, cube in hand. His optics studied it and his servo rested against his midsection. It was still tingling from Knockouts warm touch.

He wasn't fond of being touched in such a way, and he hadn't been in a long…long time. It bothered him.

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE: This is my first TF fanfiction, so I'm sorry if I got some lingo messed up along the way! Please Review to let me know how I'm doing so far! I would adore the input~! 333333**


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